Alabama’s high school football coaching salaries soar past $120,000

[pstokely]

I've never heard of HS football coaches around here making that much $, they also usually teach something

http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/-6555916786341812140/alabamas-high-school-football-coaching-salaries-soar-past-120000-search-for-how-much-your-coach-makes/#incart_river

"Ensuring the viability of any football program at any level starts with hiring an elite coach with a proven track record – and keeping him. For Alabama high-school football, that increasingly means paying a higher coaching salary than ever.

Hoover football coach Josh Niblett received a raise earlier this month from $114,471 to a state-best $125,000 per year, according to Hoover City Schools. That marked the fourth time over the last 10 months that one Alabama high-school coach’s salary leapfrogged another to become the state’s highest-paid public school coach.

“It has kind of been getting outrageous," Niblett said. "It started off with the money college coaches were making, but I think if you go to other states like Texas or Georgia you will find [high school] guys making a lot more than $125,000. The numbers those guys are making -- and not teaching -- are unbelievable.”

[Stallion]

1. Shoot! That's Barely Getting By In Texas

Hank Carter at Lake Travis, Texas earned $139,000 last year and I know he turned down 2 times that much to stay this year after Chad Morris at SMU offered him a defensive position. So he's got to be up to around $150,000 now. One thing driving up the salaries are Texas Colleges trying to employ top High school coaches to recruit the best players in the State of Texas. College Football success is 75% recruiting success. Never seen anything like it-there were about 10 high school coaches getting Texas assistant coaching jobs this year alone at SMU, TCU, Baylor, UT, Tech, UH to name a few. There's a lot of talented high school coaches from this area who were recent high school coaches and that's fueling the salary increases. Examples: Art Briles at Baylor, Todd Graham at Arizona St., Chad Morris at SMU (formerly Clemson Offensive Coordinator) , Gus Malzhan at Auburn, Tom Hermann at UH (formerly Ohio St Offensive Coordinator), new Kansas Coach David Beatty (formerly recruiting ace at Texas A&M) and the new Tulsa Coach Phillip Montgomery (former Baylor Offensive Coordinator. Texas High School Coaches know what they are doing plus they have all have outstanding Texas High School recruiting connections. The powerhouses in Texas High School football are probably million dollar programs playing before 15,000-20,000 brand new stadiums costing 30 Million Dollars to as high as 60 Million Dollars (for 3 time defending 6A Champion Allen High School) so there is a lot of competition for the top coaching candidates

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/show-me-the-money/ngNWr/

[pstokely]

2. how can they afford the high salaries with the low funding?

large donations from boosters? maybe the rich districts can afford them but those high salaries aren't raising test scores, doesn't seem to be much competition for experienced science or social studies teachers between districts, around here the football coaches are also full time teachers with the district who I think get paid extra if they coach a sport or lead some other activity (band, drama) but I don't live in a small town in Bumfuck TX with limited entertainment options

[Stallion]

6. Economics of Texas High School Powerhouse

Take the heavyweights Allen High School and maybe Lake Travis or Southlake Carroll

20,000 fans per home game
x
6 home game
x
$25 revenue on tickets, parking, concessions (conservative)
---------------------
$3 Million Revenue

PLUS PLAYOFFS where a school like Allen has played 6 games for each of the past 3 years. Assume increasing attendance as playoffs progress

20,000 Bi-District
25,000 Regional
28,000 Area
30,000 Quarter Finals
32,000 Semi-Finals
50,000 State Championship

with the biggest games played at AT&T Cowboys Stadium and most of the final few playoff games televised locally or state wide for Finals. Actually the best Texas High School programs tend not to be in BUMF*ck Texas but in the affluent upper middle class emerging communities-the KEY being ONLY 1 High School for entire city with maybe total school attendance of 5,000 kids enrolled

[uponit7771]

3. I am BLOWN away at the avg football coach salaries in Texas... wow.. if they paid the teachers that

... much and put a proportionate amount into each student... wow

[pstokely]

4. there's more competition for football coaches than full time teachers in Texas or AL

but we know they don't value science or history in those places

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Football is King in the South.

Kinda hard for most folks outside the Cotton belt to understand.

What I like about it is that on football weekends the neighborhood gets real real quiet as everyone sits glued to their giant big screen tvs.
Sorta like the benefit of shopping on Sunday mornings before noon.

God and football..Ginormous down here!

[pstokely]

7. how much do the schools charge for tickets?

I don't think any school around here charges more than $5 but this place doesn't take HS football as seriously as the do in the south, the coaches are usually full time teachers who rarely make close to six figures. And don't they have blue laws there on Sundays?

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Blue laws....The South, including Ala. has had "wet" and "dry" counties.

The dry counties are conveniently next to the wet ones, so you can just drive 20 feet over the country line and pull up to the wet county liquor store.
My county went wet in 2004, I think it was. People around here at STILL mad they lost the vote to keep it dry.

but no liquor sales on Sunday.

HS Football is usually a Friday night thing. Our lil Republican weekly newspaper has a whole section devoted to the results of High School games. Dunno about price of tickets, I never go.

College ball is weekend thing, and they have professional coaches, altho the players do not make money, which is a sticky point of late.

[chalmers]

9. Pennsylvania is really big about high school / college / pro football

They even made a movie about it starring Tom Cruise. So it isnt just the south.

[pstokely]

13. do they pay six figures salaries to full time coaches (not teachers, coaches)

schools around here don't have full time coaches, the coaches are full time teachers, but we don't worship high school football around here

[bigwillq]

10. Football is a business down South.

Up in CT, the most a head coach makes is like $10-12,000, many make much less. Up here, most coaches are teachers and the football job is considered part-time, even though it's a 12-month gig.

[Tom Ripley]

11. Priorities

[LeftinOH]

12. When in high school, I recall trying to find the logic in

the small town obsession with high school football. "Why is this relevant... to anything, ever?" There is no logic. High school football players are gods, and they know it.

Give the people bread and circuses (or, football in this case).

[pstokely]

14. social life in small towns revolves around high school football games and church

Last edited Mon Nov 30, 2015, 09:24 PM - Edit history (1)

it doesn't where there's more entertainment options

[cyberswede]

15. I think our coaches make about $3000

Some are teachers, all have "regular" jobs.